Hours: At the Highgrove Place location: Lunch is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Dinner is from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 5 to 10 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, the business is open from noon to 10 p.m. On Sunday, it's open from noon to 9 p.m.

Entree price range: Entrees typically cost $9.95 unless there is fish or an expensive protein in the dish. A few of the most expensive items: the Fire Jumbo Shrimp (giant shrimps served with sauteed vegetables in a special house sauce and topped with cilantro for $18.95), Robin Hood Ribs (barbecued baby back ribs, served with special fried rice for $15.95) and Seafood Curry (combination of seafood with curry paste, eggplants, peppers, green peas, bamboo shoots, sweet basil leaves in coconut milk for $15.95).

We started our meal with the Thai Hut Roll, which came with deep fried ground shrimp and pork wrapped in a rice wrapper. It's served with sweet and sour sauce — all for $5.95. The ingredients were lightly fried, making the dish exceptionally crispy without having the "fried oil" taste.

I ordered the Basil Pork lunch special ($7.95), which comes with stir-fried green beans, eggplant, onions, peppers and basil leaves. It is accompanied with a salad with the house dressing or soup filled with chicken, mushrooms, cilantro, lemon grass, lime juice and other herbs.

I asked for my meal to be a smidgen spicy, so I could taste how the cooks use spices to kick a dish up a notch. The cooks created different layers of flavor in my meal, so each bite would be as exciting as the last. One bite would have a hint of basil while the next would taste like slightly spicy veggies. The dressing that came on my salad was equally flavorful, similar to Thousand Island with a handful of spices thrown in. I wish there had been more ingredients than lettuce and dressing, though together they were delicious.

Page 2 of 2 - Jessica ordered the Chicken Pad Thai lunch special ($7.95). It came with stir-fried thin rice noodles, fried egg, cabbage, bean sprouts, green onions and ground peanuts. She chose the soup as her side. She said this is the dish she orders most at Thai restaurants but felt this version stood out because it had the right amount of sauce. She said sometimes restaurants shortchange on that, making the whole dish dry. She said the soup would be perfect to eat on cold days. There were large chunks of mushroom and chicken in a flavorful broth.

"Ahh" factor: Diners have complete control of the amount of heat in their dish, which is perfect for people like me who walk a fine line between a meal having a kick and being too spicy. People choose how spicy their dish is by using a one through five heat-rating scale when they order. Servers then bring out four sauces — dry chili, stir fry with garlic, red chili sauce in vinegar and jalapenos in vinegar — so patrons can add another layer of heat if their meals aren't fiery enough.

"Hmm" moment: There weren't any knives at our place setting. The food is sliced into bite-size pieces but I still like the option of cutting items myself, if needed.